Pilling Cost Calculator UK

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Piling Cost Calculator | Free UK Tool
🇬🇧 Construction Calculator · UK

Piling Cost Calculator

Select your pile type, enter the number of piles, depth, and soil conditions — get an instant UK cost estimate including drilling, installation, pile caps, mobilisation, and optional ground beams.

🏗️ 6 pile types covered
⚙️ Soil & access factors applied
💷 2024 UK trade prices used
📐 Per-pile & total costs shown
100%
Free to use
No sign-up needed
6
Pile types
CFA to mini-piles
2024
UK price data
Updated regularly
0p
No paywall
Instant results
Free Tool

Calculate your piling cost

Fill in your project details below and get an instant cost estimate — covering pile installation, mobilisation, pile caps, and optional ground beams or underpinning works.

Your project details

Fill in all fields for an accurate cost estimate

piles
mm
metres

Your Cost Estimate

Full piling cost breakdown

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Fill in your project details and click Calculate to get your personalised piling cost estimate — including per-pile costs, mobilisation, pile caps, and all optional extras.

Pile Type Guide

Choosing the right pile type

Each piling method suits different soil conditions, load requirements, and site constraints. Here’s a guide to the six most common pile types used in UK construction.

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CFA Piles

Continuous Flight Auger piles are the most common choice for UK residential and commercial projects. Fast, quiet, and vibration-free — ideal for urban sites near existing buildings.

~£100–£200 per linear metre
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Bored Piles

Large-diameter rotary bored piles for heavy loads. Used in commercial, bridge, and high-rise construction. Can be bored through most ground conditions including rock.

~£150–£350 per linear metre
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Driven Piles

Precast concrete or steel H-piles driven into the ground using an impact hammer. Fast and economical for sites with good access. Generates noise and vibration — unsuitable near sensitive structures.

~£80–£180 per linear metre
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Mini Piles

Smaller-diameter piles (typically 100–300 mm) installed with compact rigs that fit through doorways. Ideal for extensions, underpinning, and sites with severely restricted access.

~£120–£250 per linear metre
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Screw Piles

Helical steel piles screwed into the ground — no spoil, no concrete, almost no noise or vibration. Quick to install and immediately loadable. Popular for lightweight structures, decking, and extensions.

~£90–£180 per linear metre
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Sheet Piling

Interlocking steel sheets driven to form a continuous wall — used for retaining walls, basements, and temporary excavation support. Can be permanent or temporary and extracted for reuse.

~£200–£500 per linear metre
Reference

Piling cost reference by type

These are typical 2024 UK installed costs per linear metre, including labour but excluding mobilisation, pile caps, and ground beams.

Pile type Typical diameter Low (£/lm) Mid (£/lm) High (£/lm) Best suited for
CFA Piles 300–600 mm £100 £150 £200 Residential, urban sites
Bored Piles 450–1500 mm £150 £250 £350 Commercial, heavy loads
Driven Piles 250–500 mm £80 £130 £180 Open sites, good access
Mini Piles 100–300 mm £120 £185 £250 Restricted access, underpinning
Screw Piles 76–300 mm £90 £135 £180 Lightweight, fast-track
Sheet Piling N/A (per m²) £200 £350 £500 Basements, retaining walls
Expert Tips

Getting the most from your piling budget

Piling is one of the most technically specialist trades on any construction project. These tips will help you commission work confidently and avoid costly surprises.

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Invest in a ground investigation

A proper ground investigation (trial pits, boreholes, or a desk study) is the single most important step before commissioning piling. Unexpected soil conditions or obstructions discovered mid-contract are the primary cause of piling cost overruns — sometimes by 50% or more.

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Get specialist piling quotes

Piling is a specialist sub-contract trade. Always obtain quotes directly from specialist piling contractors rather than through a main contractor markup. Get at least three comparable quotes with identical scopes, including mobilisation, pile caps, and ground beams clearly itemised.

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Right-size your piles

Oversizing piles to add comfort margin is common but wasteful. A structural engineer’s design will specify the minimum pile diameter and depth to carry the required load safely. Fewer, deeper piles can sometimes be more economical than many shallow ones — always ask.

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Budget for mobilisation

Piling rig mobilisation — getting the machine to site and setting it up — typically costs £3,000–£15,000 regardless of the number of piles. On small residential projects this can equal or exceed the pile installation cost. Consolidating piling work into a single visit saves significantly.

Our Promise

Cost estimates built on real data

Our piling cost calculator uses current 2024 UK trade pricing data sourced from specialist piling contractors, BCIS cost indices, and structural engineering practices — adjusted for pile type, soil difficulty, access constraints, and regional labour rates.

Piling costs vary more than almost any other construction trade due to soil variability. We give you a realistic mid-point with an honest range, and flag the factors most likely to push costs higher on your specific project.

  • ✓2024 UK specialist piling contractor rates
  • ✓6 pile types with individual cost profiles
  • ✓Soil condition and access difficulty factored in
  • ✓Mobilisation costs always included — never hidden
  • ✓Pile caps, ground beams, and testing costed separately
  • ✓Regional price variation across all UK nations
  • ✓No ads, no sign-up, no data stored — runs in your browser
Help & Info

Piling FAQs

How much does piling cost in the UK?
Piling costs vary enormously depending on pile type, depth, soil conditions, and site access. As a rough guide, CFA piles for a typical UK residential project cost £100–£200 per linear metre installed. A small residential project with 15–20 piles at 8 metres depth typically costs £15,000–£40,000 all-in including mobilisation and pile caps. Mobilisation alone can add £5,000–£15,000 regardless of pile count, making piling very expensive for very small projects.
Both are cast-in-place concrete piles, but the installation method differs. CFA (Continuous Flight Auger) piles are drilled using a hollow-stem auger — concrete is pumped through the hollow stem as the auger is withdrawn, and the reinforcing cage is then pushed into the wet concrete. They are fast, quiet, and suitable for most UK soils. Bored piles use a rotary rig to drill a cased hole, which is then cleaned out, reinforcement is lowered in, and concrete is poured. They can reach larger diameters and penetrate harder ground, making them the choice for heavier commercial loads.
Piling is typically required when: ground conditions are poor (loose fill, soft clay, or made ground that can’t support strip foundations); the load-bearing stratum is deep (below 3–4 metres); there are trees nearby whose roots cause shrinkage and heave in clay soils; the site has been contaminated or has a history of underground voids; or the structure is very heavy (commercial building, bridge abutment). A structural engineer or geotechnical consultant will advise based on a ground investigation.
Pile caps are reinforced concrete blocks cast over the top of one or more piles to distribute the structural load from a column or wall across the pile group. They are required on almost every piled foundation. Ground beams are reinforced concrete beams spanning between pile caps — they distribute the load along a wall line and also support the ground floor slab. Together, pile caps and ground beams typically add 25–45% to the total piling cost but are an essential part of the foundation system, not optional extras.
Installation time depends on pile type, number, and depth. A typical residential CFA piling project of 15–25 piles takes 1–3 days on site for the rig, once mobilised. Mini piling for a house extension may take 2–4 days due to the slower per-pile rate of smaller rigs. Larger commercial projects with 50–200+ piles typically take 1–3 weeks. Add time for pile caps and ground beams — typically 1–3 weeks after piling is complete, once the concrete has cured.
Yes — all piled foundations require Building Regulations approval as part of the structural foundation design. Your structural engineer will produce pile design calculations and specifications that form part of the Building Regs submission. The piling contractor will also provide installation records (pile logs, concrete volumes, test results) which are submitted to the building control inspector. Piling should never commence without an approved structural design, as mistakes are very expensive to rectify once concrete is poured.
Piling rigs are large, heavy, specialist machines that require low-loaders to transport, skilled operators, a support crew, and significant ancillary equipment (concrete pumps, casing, bentonite units). The cost of getting all this to site, setting up, and breaking down again is largely fixed regardless of how many piles are being installed. On large commercial projects this fixed cost is spread across hundreds of piles and barely registers. On a small residential project with just 10–15 piles, mobilisation can easily represent 30–50% of the total contract value.
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